Dewhurst: Senate won’t vote to exceed spending cap

At the end of another day of stalemate between House and Senate budget writers, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst urged conferees to “get back to work ASAP and finish the budget.”

But he reiterated his position that he opposed a House plan to “take $2 billion out of the Rainy Day Fund for water infrastructure, then vote to bust the Constitutional spending cap limit.”

Instead, in a statement issued late Thursday, he said, “the preferred Senate approach is to take a limited amount of money out of the Rainy Day Fund, as Governor Perry has proposed, and not bust the Constitutional spending cap limit. In fact, as a fiscal conservative, I will not ask my Senators to vote to bust the Constitutional spending cap limit. It is not needed. We can and should live within our means, just like Texas families are living within theirs. And there is no reason to enlarge the base of the 2014-2015 Budget, so that the subsequent budget is even larger. As someone who always wants to cut taxes, and repeatedly has, I am confident we will agree with the House on a substantial amount of tax cuts.”

The Legislature adjourns May 27, and Perry has vowed to call lawmakers back into special session if they do not vote for tax cuts and funding for infrastructure needs, like water and highways.